Old farthood and wood

By Doug Page | Thu, May 15, 2008, 11:23 AM

There’s a lot in this world I don’t understand.

I try to have coffee weekly with three other middle aged guys to solve all the world’s problems.

Recently, one handed in his retirement papers, moving from middle-agedom to old-farthood.

The conversation turned to what the old man was to do with all his extra time.

“Oh, I guess I’ll be making an end table for my daughter. I have some cherry from a tree my father cut down back in Iowa.”

As the only nonhandyman of the group, I felt obligated to ask the question.

Old dude, you mean to tell me that you’re hauling around a 50-year-old piece of wood? What are you thinking?

“No, no,” the old boy responded, “it’s probably closer to 80 years old.”

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Teens and research

By Doug Page | Mon, May 12, 2008, 01:35 PM

It was a good idea backed by sound research.

Teens need more sleep than the rest of us. And the more sleep they get, the better they do in school. The research backs that up.

Several school districts — including Trotwood-Madison — tried to make use of that knowledge. High school started an hour later than normal.

The thinking was that’s an extra hour of sleep for teens.

Nice idea.

Most parents, however, know better. To the teen-age brain, an hour later start to school means but one thing.

It’s an hour later we can stay up, Dude!

Trotwood-Madison is scrapping the late start, beginning next school year.

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Looking for fertile ground

By Doug Page | Thu, May 8, 2008, 10:54 AM

Nature has a wondrous way of renewing itself.

Wind, animals, fire, rain all spread seeds. Some fall on ground that will nurture them. Others do not. There are enough seeds that fall on fertile soil to grow, blossom and spread their seeds to other fertile soil.

Take my dandelion-infested front yard, for instance. Somebody, please, take my front yard. My back is killing me after a day of cutting out those yellow-flowered so-and-sos.

Farmers often follow the same practice of sowing their crop. Winter wheat seed is often planted in the fall and sprouts before a killing freeze. It then lies dormant over the winter, often protected by a covering of snow. When the soil warms in the spring, the wheat grows. But it needs the cold of winter to complete its growth cycle.

It takes faith to plant something in the fall and wait until spring some six months later to see if it will grow.

Stay with me here. I’m about (finally, often says the wife) to make my point.

Cities often do the same thing.

They’ll buy a large tract of land, run water and sewer to it and wait — often years. During that wait there is plenty of grumbling.

Taxpayers, as is their right, want to see some benefit, some service for their dollars. I wish I could use some of my tax dollars every time I go through the grocery checkout or stand at the gas pump.

Folks in Brookville, for instance, six years ago saw the city annex 81-plus acres and run water and sewer to it. That wasn’t cheap.

Now there is a huge warehouse about finished with another planned. That’s 400 new jobs coming soon.

Likewise, Trotwood dropped $2 million in 2000 into buying land for an industrial park. For seven years, most of the land lay fallow. Last year, the city landed a $32 million auto parts warehouse set to open in August.

That’s another 300 to 400 new jobs for a city recovering from the loss of the Salem Mall.

It hasn’t been easy, this waiting. That’s money that could have been spent elsewhere. But city councils decided the seeds needed sown.

It’s picking the fertile ground that’s the trick.

There aren’t many dandelions in our world economy that can flourish in any soil. If my front yard were an industrial park, I’d be a wealthy man.

The Salem Mall area, now known as the Landmark project, will someday blossom. As will the Village of North Clayton.

Trotwood spent $3.5 million to buy the defunct mall property in 2004. Since then, the city has attempted to secure enough retail leases to make the mixed-use plan feasible. They’ve come close, but not close enough.

With the economy down throughout the region, it’s a tough row to hoe when you add to the mix the city’s financial condition.

Just like you and me, the city isn’t seeing its income growing at the same time the costs of everything is going up.

Clayton is in a somewhat better shape. The plan to develop north of Interstate 70 required water and sewer to the site at National and Hoke. The city got a great deal from Dayton on water and the state on sewer.

Current costs are around $200,000 annually. Those will decrease as development takes root and impact fees come in.

We need the patience of the farmer who sows his winter wheat and has to wait six months to see it flourish.

We’re in an economic winter. Spring will come.

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One intersection, three pharmacies

By Doug Page | Mon, May 5, 2008, 10:15 PM

One intersection, three drugstores.

What’s up with that?

Traffic can’t be that bad at the Englewood intersection of Union Boulevard and Wenger that drivers require that many aspirins. Yet on the front page of the May 8 Neighbors section is a story about Walgreens getting approval for a new store across the street from Rite Aid Pharmacy and Kroger, which houses its own drugstore.

“It’s warfare,” said Irene Dickey, a University of Dayton lecturer in the School of Business.

“They wouldn’t have gone there if the numbers weren’t right,” she said. Walgreens either believes there is enough business for three stores or that it is a strong enough operation to beat out the competition, she said.

Dickey explained the numbers companies look at goes beyond the simple demographics of the Census to something call psychographics. That is a look at the behavior of people in a particular area. Are they health conscious, for instance. That would have a great impact on a drugstore.

In addition, companies will often have access to the accounts of health care facilities and insurance companies. “AARP has collected a lot of data,” she said, “that they make available for a price.”

According to Dickey, Walgreens is a hot brand at this moment. The company reported record earnings and sales for the second quarter of this year and for the first half of this year, according to the company’s Web site.

“They are in a huge growth phase,” Dickey said. “The more stores they have, the greater the economies of scale.”

Examining the various data helps a company cut down on the risks of locating a new store. Failure of a store can have a huge effect on companies.

“The consumer might drive by and notice that a store is closed. They may not need anything at the moment, but that closed store will affect how they think about the brand,” Dickey said.

“Walgreens is a strong brand. A failure, or failures, could cause the demise of the brand name, lead to a negative perception.”

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Kick ‘em while they’re down

By Doug Page | Mon, May 5, 2008, 11:30 AM

It was a great put-down line.

Roger Clemens, the one-time pitching legend, is said to have said when asked of his one-time hometown of Dayton: “The best view of Dayton was in the rearview mirror of our family car leaving town.”

Sounds like a line from a country-western song.

Turns out The Rocket’s life is straight out of a country-western song.

Steriods, 15-year-old singer, bartender, golf pro’s wife.

Yo, Rog. You’re family-values act is looking a bit thread bare.

If I were to pick a title for your life, it would be “Your Cheating Heart”.

I’m mighty glad you left town when you did. Disavowing any allegiance to Dayton makes it a whole lot easier to take cheap shots while you’re down.

Karma baby.

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